Cigarette smoking has a devastating impact on the incidence of disease. Currently, 23% of adults in the United States are cigarette smokers with similar smoking prevalence in African Americans and whites. However, African Americans experience disproportionate tobacco-related morbidity and mortality. Cigarettes with a menthol additive are the predominant choice of African American smokers, compared to approximately 25% in white smokers. Additives, such as menthol, may promote maintenance of smoking behavior and nicotine addiction, and may potentially increase exposure to cigarette smoke constituents. A two-factor design will be used to examine main and interaction effects of ethnicity and menthol cigarette preference on dependent variables of nicotine dependence, smoking topography, and cigarette smoke constituent exposure to fill a gap in existing literature. Eligible adult cigarette smokers will participate in a 36-hour protocol in the General Clinical Research Center where measures of nicotine dependence, nicotine and carbon monoxide increases pre to post-cigarette, cotinine concentrations, sensory perceptions post-cigarette and smoking topography will be obtained for multiple smoking bouts. Additional cigarette smoke constituents of menthol and its metabolite, and tobacco specific nitrosamine and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon metabolites will be quantified in 24-hour urine samples. A stratified recruitment plan will provide balanced representation of ethnicity and menthol cigarette preference. Analyses will include longitudinal and linear regression models, as well as a two-factor analysis of variance model to elucidate the role of ethnicity and menthol preference. Findings may inform future tobacco dependence treatment with smokers who prefer menthol cigarettes.
| Ahijevych, Karen (2009) Biological models for studying and assessing tobacco use. Annu Rev Nurs Res 27:145-68 |
